


melt away your sorrows

by lightofthewind



Category: Prince of Stride: Alternative (Anime)
Genre: Cold Weather, Gen, Ice Skating, Light Angst, Post-Canon, Reminiscing, Slice of Life, Snowball Fight, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-30 09:41:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6418432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightofthewind/pseuds/lightofthewind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of how Nana's trip to Hokkaido... literally snowballs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	melt away your sorrows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ackermanx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ackermanx/gifts).



> This is what my brain ended up going for~  
> I hope you enjoy it! ♥  
> Happy Inter High :D

Nine months had been all it took for Nana’s body to forget about the cold in Hokkaido.

As soon as her feet touch Sapporo soil and her lungs breathe in air purer than Tokyo’s pollution-filled atmosphere, she’s taken aback by how foreign the sensation feels. How nostalgic it is to be back home, when her heart’s already used to calling Tokyo - _Hounan -_  that.

She’s really missed her grandparents, though.  And the city she’s spent most of her life in. That’s populated by childhood memories, everywhere she looks.

The playground she played on the weekends. Where she had met the first friends she made after the move. They’d play hide-and-seek, teach each other how to ride a bike, run against one another and practice in pretend stride matches. She would switch between the relationer and runner positions back then.

The bench where she usually sat at, when she wanted to spend time with herself. Feeding the little birds that flocked to her side, reading her most precious books, listening with her heart to the lyrics of her favourite songs, setting apart each note and which instrument had given birth to it, making up all sorts of shapes from clouds and stars alike.

The crosswalk where she was almost run over once, the day her father had left and she’d needed to get out of the house _quickly, quickly_ and didn’t bother looking at the light sign. Not like she would have been able to distinguish the colour through her tear-induced blurry vision anyway.

Her grandparents had never found out about that. It was her secret childhood memory, the one she’d never shared with anyone else - it belonged only to her. A grey-coloured blip in time where she would push all the sadness and loneliness and fear she had ever felt and let it crystallise into a single, indiscriminate representation of negative emotions. It was a triumphant memory in the end – just like she’d been able to avoid the impact with the car that day, she had also moved on from the loss. It was the reassurance that if she’d escaped once she could certainly do it again.

The meadow where she watched that video – the one that brought her hope again, that soothed old wounds and let her allow herself to find a renewed purpose from the buried remains of a lost hobby.

The bridge she’d travel through every day on her way to and from school.

Her grandparents’ house.

They know she’s coming (had been the ones to insist that she spend winter vacation with them – since she was too busy with EOS training to return during her previous break – _and wasn’t that ironic_ ) but weren’t expecting her so early. It had been intentional on her part. She needed the walk alone to reacquaint herself with the past she kind of put on-hold ever since high school started.

Their smiles and excited greetings are immediately forthcoming and she is soon enveloped in a welcoming bear hug from both sides. She closes her eyes and lets herself revel in their specific brand of familial love. How she craved for it in Tokyo, the whole time she was away.

A few days later, she’s completely eased back into the old routine. Grandpa handles food preparation, letting his creativity run wild and coming up with bizarre dishes that in the end still surprisingly managed to  _work_. Grandma takes care of the extra arrangements against the cold, firewood-cutting and airing out the  _kotatsu_  blanket. Nana takes to cleaning the house and accompanying Grandma on her rounds around the block. Every day, the two of them leave the house bringing one of Grandpa’s dishes with them as a gift and spend a few hours in each neighbouring household, exchanging small talk and animate discussion of the current news. On the side they also promote (and hopefully even sell) their handmade crafts, ranging from embroidery (Grandma’s favourite) to woodcarving and painted ceramics, which Grandpa particularly excels at.

Some of the families they visit are her friends’ and she’s informed of what they’ve been up to during the time they hadn’t seen each other. Everywhere they go she’s met with excited and proud faces, inquiring about what life in Tokyo is like, whether adapting to her new life had been challenging and pressing for the details of her team’s training and subsequent success back in summer. The news is quite old by this point, but hearing it from the media and celebrating with the grandparents is a world’s away from getting the full first-person narrative, with every piece of juicy, backstage gossip as an added bonus.

Others in her place might find it annoying, the endless repeated retelling to exhaustion of what came down to a matter-of-fact achievement, but Nana is only too quick to obey. She never passed on an opportunity to gush over stride  _and_  her boys. And seeing such tangible demonstration of interest in her accomplishments by her circle of acquaintances fills her heart with a warm sensation of validated pride.

Afterwards, they end their day with a stop by the grocer’s to pick up the necessary ingredients to fuel Grandpa’s culinary adventures.

Yet another day would go by like usual, except this time the routine changes.

As they make their way across the spices aisle, Nana's phone chimes unexpectedly.

> _Sakurai-san, what's your house address in Sapporo? o(*^ _▽_ _^*)o__

Nana furrows her brow. Yagami- _kun_ 's question is too straight-forward (even for him) and unpreambled like this, comes literally out of the blue. Is he planning something?

As if reading her thoughts, her phone rings again.

> _It's just... (๑•﹏•)⋆* ⁑⋆*_
> 
> _We had extra leftovers at the bakery today so I thought I would send some to your grandparents?_
> 
> _But I need your address to do that!_

That doesn't make any sense. Sending perishables through the mail is obviously a terrible idea. Yagami- _kun_ is definitely up to something but Nana can't figure it out and well... what could go wrong from sending him the address, really.

So - even if still dumb-founded - she complies.

Yagami- _kun_ sends her a thumbs-up in response and goes silent when Nana puts her misgivings into words and questions him further.

Nana occasionally checks her phone for the remaining duration of their grocery shopping, to no avail.

Approaching the cashier, she puts it away and decides to let the matter rest.

Until they're out on the street and who else is right there at the store's exit, waiting, than the entirety of Hounan's stride club members.

"Surprise!" they scream in unisonous cheery voices, after Kohinata- and Kadowaki- _senpai_ make a show out of loudly counting down so they get the timing right.

There are customers staring and commenting in (not that) hushed voices, but all Nana can take in is the happiness their friends' smiles irradiate and that no doubt matches her own countenance.

Yagami- _kun_ and Fujiwara- _kun_ both reach out for hers and Grandma's bags respectively and are gone in an impromptu running match, before they can all even finish exchanging proper greetings and Nana can get the full explanation of what's going on.

Luckily - after the obligatory throwaway remark from Kuga- _senpai_ on how the wind here is cold but refreshing nonetheless, and smells of great opportunities ahead - Kasekura- _senpai_ clears everything up while Kohinata and Kadowaki perform an improvised comedy routine illustrating his words along, to her Grandma's elation.

Diane had heard Galaxy Standard's last, farewell concert with their current line-up was taking place a few cities over and, being witness to every single Hounan boy's anticipatory whining over Nana's absence during winter vacation, turned the annoyance into a business opportunity and managed to move the concert after-party's location to Sapporo and arrange a trial run between the two teams, cashing in the fan favourite rivalry's popularity. Even though they kept in touch, they hadn't got to meet up (never mind run) a single time after Saisei's defeat at EOS and everyone (the teams most of all) is excited for the - unofficial - rematch.

This will be happening tomorrow evening, the local major ice skating rink doubling as venue.

Incidentally, Nana and Heath are the only ones with any semblance of previous figure skating experience. They’ll need to take some time off site recognition to cover the basics first.

Diane had arranged for the boys’ stay at a nearby inn, but Nana’s grandparents have none of it and don’t budge until they’re all settled into a big _futon_ pile in the living room, under the safety and warmth of the _kotatsu_. Exhausted from the trip and well-fed, they fall asleep almost immediately.

The next morning, they’re woken up by the sounds of delicious breakfast-making, a treat they dig in with fervour. If nothing else, the cold weather was at least guaranteed to whet one’s appetite. Afterwards, Kohinata, Kadowaki and Kuga take care of the dishes while the other first-years and their club captain erase the traces left from their sleeping arrangements and put the living room back to order. At the same time, Nana is taking notes about the various placing orders they can choose from for the match and the mini ice skating training they’ll undergo before lunch.

Since Saisei will only arrive shortly before the competition start, Hounan clearly holds the advantage of knowing the terrain beforehand. The rink is still functioning normally, the event taking place afterhours. Thus, they can kill two birds with one stone and explore around the place while learning figure skating tricks.

To everyone’s amusement, Fujiwara- _kun_ proves to be as lacking in skill as he was found to be regarding swimming. Barely one foot inside, he loses his usual confident movements and – the spitting image of a newly-born fawn - falls face first on the ice.

Kadowaki- _senpai_ ’s laughing fit promptly earns him a repeat performance and a place sprawled half on top of Fujiwara. Not one to lose face, he drags a yelping, defenceless Kohinata down with him.

Outwardly, Fujiwara- _kun_ looks annoyed at his lack of ability and his teammates’ antics but Nana spies a barely-there upward curve in the boy’s lips. His eyes, always so expressive, are brimming with mirth.

Although yesterday Kuga- _senpai_ had claimed to have never been to an ice skating rink before, he instantly gets the hang of it – to no one’s surprise. After gracing them with a full lap of his smooth gliding, he joins up where Kasekura- _senpai_ is training Yagami- _kun_ , their hands grasped together providing his only axis of balance for the moment.

Nana approaches the three boys closest to her and starts giving out advice.

Soon Kohinata- _senpai_ has the moves down pat as well, and switches focus to supporting his best friend.

Which leaves Nana alone with Fujiwara- _kun_. Not having the others’ attention, he visibly relaxes and his movements lose some of the tension he’d been displaying till now.

That’s the most progress they end up making that day, though. And that’s okay. They’re stride runners, after all. Not figure skaters. This training was meant as a further weapon to enhance their acrobatics arsenal; nothing else.

They take a break for lunch and step outside. Once again, the meal is the result of Grandpa’s cooking – packed into individual _bento_ and beautifully decorated by Grandma.

It’s started snowing and the temperature’s even lower than at the day’s onset, so they huddle close together. Kohinata- and Kadowaki- _senpai_ share the former’s long muffler between them.

The afternoon is occupied by predicting where takeover zones will be and testing out relations. Saisei’s surreptitious arrival and their own single-minded focus on the ongoing tasks facilitates the almost fruitful sneak attack the idol band’s members launch upon them.

It’s already time for the match and it goes by in a flash. Decidedly more balanced than was supposed to, given Hounan’s beneficial conditions, the race ends in a draw. Not the conclusive result any of them were hoping for, and their time is nothing to write home about either. But it reminds Nana of Hounan’s inaugural sprint earlier that year and how thrilling and full of promise it had been. There’s still work to do, even with a EOS championship under their belt. They can’t slack off now.

Show over, they can take their time catching up. After all these months, their much-awaited reunion is equal parts emotional, light-hearted and filled with the natural playful bickering between teams and individual rival partners.

Too soon, comes the announcement to clear out the space so that it can undergo proper cleaning and the rink finally closes for the day. The whole group heads outdoors.

A white landscape awaits them in greeting. The snow that’s been falling all afternoon has piled up a few centimetres and some of the kids that left the rink at closing hours remained in the area by the gate and have started building a snowman.

Surprisingly, the person to pitch the idea is Shizuma- _san_.

“I believe we could all use some cooling down,” he deadpans, after exchanging pointed glances with Saisei's anchor, a twinkle in his eyes. 

His words aren't even fully out yet before Reiji has been hit with a perfectly-aimed snowball to the back of the head, courtesy of no other than Fujiwara- _kun_.

It’s the first shot to an all-out war, spanning a good fifteen minutes, after which they collapse on the snowy ground, exhausted and wet to the bone.


End file.
